The Knightsbridge Outbreak
by Old Toad
Summary: The find of an ancient Martian vessel in an excavation in Knightsbridge, London, and the subsequent night of horror was a jolt to both the Muggle and wizarding worlds.


**A/N:** _The six episodes of 'Quatermass and the Pit', broadcast in 1958/9 (yes, 60 years ago!) are at times available on the BBC iPlayer, watch them if you possibly can!_

It was a night of panic, terror, chaos, destruction, and death. It, whatever 'it' was, hit central London without warning, spread out as far as the suburbs and ended abruptly; one moment mobs were rampaging and killing, the next, people stood aghast and baffled by the carnage which they themselves had caused. The majority had turned on the rest and killed all they could find.

Nothing as remotely destructive had happened since the Blitz, twenty years before. In places the damage was like wartime: fires burned out of control; buildings collapsed in ruins; all around were flames and destruction. Aircraft fell from the sky and created further conflagrations. For a short while London was a Hell. The real horror, though, was not the destruction of property but the slaughter; the death toll was many thousands.

No one doubted that it was a case of violent mass hysteria, and in the weeks that followed the media of the day carried various interpretations of the events. Historians looked for precedents, such as ' _not since the sack of Rome in 1527 …_.' Bishops and bible-bashers alike were perhaps nearer the truth with statements such as ' _We have been granted a glimpse of the Apocalypse._ '

However, it was Professor Quatermass who gave the nation the authoritative account, describing events at the excavation in Knightsbridge which triggered the outbreak, and the desperate remedy which quelled it. He told of his firmly-held belief that the hull found in the Hobbs Lane pit was from Mars, and that the Martians had long-ago interfered with human evolution for their own ends. He ended his broadcast with these words:

" _Every war crisis, witch-hunt, race riot, and purge is a reminder and a warning. We are the Martians. If we cannot control the inheritance within us this will be their second dead planet!_ "

This broadcast set a new British record for the number of viewers. Among those watching television were the gathered departmental heads of the Ministry of Magic, many of whom had not even heard of TV before. However, the television receiver, and the rapid development of Muggle technology it represented, was a trifle compared to the other recent assaults on their complacency. They had a great deal to consider.

"Before we discuss what we have just seen, let me bring you up to date," said the Minister. "Yesterday I had a meeting with the Muggle prime minister. He called the meeting, the first time I think that has happened for almost a hundred years. He was angry, angry with us, the wizarding world. It seems that the Muggle scientists have all concluded that there was no scientific, rational explanation for what took place. Some told him that it was 'supernatural'. So that made him think of magic: us. In short, he wanted to know why we had not anticipated the events in Knightsbridge and prevented them. He said we had failed him!"

The Minister watched for the reaction. Some shook their heads, others looked blank or slowly nodded. The Head of Aurors rose to his feet, bristling. "Minister, I hope you told him of the work our aurors did in limiting the butchery. Without their prompt action in stunning thousands of possessed Muggles there would have been massive carnage."

"Indeed I did. He was not greatly mollified. He wanted to know why the entire wizarding population of London was not out there 'saving their fellow citizens' as he put it."

"Aurors are trained in advanced occlumency, we could shrug off the command to kill deviants. Not everyone could."

"Yes, yes, I know that, but I could hardly admit to the Minister that a large number of witches and wizards were overcome by an urge to kill Muggles. Thankfully, they lost command of their wands or there would have been a massacre! Nor could I tell him of our actions in undoing a lot of the damage done that night."

"May I speak, Minister?"

"Please do Dumbledore. I know you have been following this closely."

The Minister sat down, grateful to be out of the limelight, and the professor walked to the front. "What puzzled me most about this outbreak was the sheer power of it. The wizarding world has seen nothing like it before, yet there is no doubt whatever that it was extremely powerful legilimency. Are we all agreed on that?" Nobody spoke.

"Good. The Muggle broadcast we have just seen has filled in a few details. It is now clear that the so-called hull in the Hobbs Lane excavation was an ancient magical artefact of immense power. This device was accidentally triggered by Muggles who could hardly have known what they were dealing with. It unleashed the horror of the Wild Hunt; we cannot allow that to happen again. Quatermass's warning that there may be others yet to be found must be heeded. We must understand how it could control the minds of so many wizards and Muggles so forcefully. It is a great pity that nothing of it remains."

"Not so, Professor!" It was the Head of the Department of Mysteries. "Before the outbreak the Muggle authorities removed a hatch from the site and took it to a government laboratory somewhere in the countryside. Of course they could make nothing of it. I requested, via the Minister, to have it for my department to study. Instead, it is to be sent to the United States on a military aircraft. A team from my department will travel with it. It is going to Area 51."

"Then it will be in the best place: with our expert colleagues in the USA."

"True, Dumbledore, which is why I agreed to it," said the Minister. "Please note that this is secret, not to be revealed to anyone outside this room. … Have you finished, Professor?"

"Just one more thing, if I may? … It is this: Muggles have been aware of strange events in the Hobbs Lane area for many centuries, Quatermass made a point of it: visions, poltergeist activities, disturbing sounds and so on. Yet it seems the Ministry was totally unaware of it; it was never investigated. We cannot afford to make such a mistake again."

The Minister smiled. "Our new, dynamic Head of Muggle Affairs can bring us up-to-date on that."

One of the few witches in the room took the floor. "Thank you, Minister. I have already set up a new team to look into reports of strange events in the Muggle world. But it is a truly massive task, and too often these 'strange events' turn out to be due to simple magic. We are trying, but it seems hopeless."

The discussion that followed brought up many suggestions, but nothing helpful. The Minister summed it up well: "Either we double or treble the size of the Ministry or we work more closely with Muggles and risk exposing ourselves. Neither is acceptable. We must hope that some helpful advice comes out of Area 51." He then declared the meeting over.

The following day the headline splashed across the Daily Prophet was 'Magic: Is It Martian?'. The article quoted extensively from the TV broadcast, which few wizards or witches would have seen. However, it described not only the legilimency of the device in the pit, but also the telekinetic power which Muggles under its influence acquired: moving objects around without touching them and using them as weapons. This, combined with previous articles in the Muggle press about the five million year old hominids found in the pit, led the article to argue that all magical powers might well be due to the ancient Martians.

Letters to the Daily Prophet in the following days argued that the telekinesis could not have been caused by Muggles: either it was due to squibs or directly by the pit device. Some suggested it was caused unconsciously by wizards and witches affected by the legilimency.

A letter from Professor Dumbledore pointed out that witches and wizards often came from Muggle stock, and that "… this ability cannot have come from nowhere". He concluded that "Most Muggles have some magical ability hidden within them. Those that did were swept up into the Wild Hunt, those that did not were their prey and their victims."

The next issue of The Quibbler was true to form in taking a different line. It pointed out that the hominids found in the Hobbs Lane pit more closely resembled house elves and goblins that modern man. "It is clear," the paper declared, "that whether or not we are descended from Martian hominids, both Elves and Goblins are; and their magic, if not ours, comes from Mars. … The author of _Goblins are from Mars, Elves are from Venus_ was half-right."

The Head of Muggle Affairs proved correct. The investigation of Muggle reports of hauntings and other strange happens got nowhere. Sometimes there was a simple explanation: ghosts were found. But if no ghosts were found what then? Perhaps they had moved on, or perhaps it was a simple case of ordinary magic? After a few months her special team was disbanded.

The 'Knightsbridge Outbreak', as it came to be known in the magical world, was the first of its kind for many centuries. Weeks turned to months, years passed and nothing like it recurred. The magical world had more urgent concerns; the first Wizarding War made it seem unimportant, and it was almost forgotten by the time of the second.

The Muggle world has ignored Quatermass's warning. Intolerance of the 'other' continues in purges, massacres, genocide, mass expulsions and 'ethnic cleansing'.

The hatch remains in Area 51, and no word of it has yet come out. The magical and Muggle worlds go on and no other Martian artefact has been found. Yet.


End file.
